This Caribou Hunt Is A Real Bargain

Published: October - 1999

In the July 1997 issue of the Hunting Report, I told you about a low-cost muskox and barren ground grizzly hunt I had with Inuit outfitter Billy Jacobson. Well, recently, when I decided it was time to take my central Canada barren ground caribou, Billy Jacobson was my first choice for an outfitter. Turns out his hunts for caribou are as well-run and organized, and as inexpensive, as his muskox and grizzly hunts. His fee this year for an eight-day, 2 x 1 hunt for two caribou is $3,200 Canadian ($1,920 US, at this writing). Yes, the seven percent GST tax on his hunt cost is included, as is the cost of the 171-mile round-trip flight to his camp and back to Inuvik, so long as you stick to his scheduled days. The only extras are $50 (Canadian) for the first caribou tag and $100 (Canadian) for the second; plus, at the end of the hunt, you must report to Renewable Resources in Inuvik and pay a $150 (Canadian) trophy fee on each bull taken. Added to these trophy fees is a seven percent GST tax. Not surprisingly, at these rates, Jacobson has all the caribou hunters he needs for 2000, though it wouldn't hurt to get on his cancellation list. Jacobson hunts in Rendez-vous Lake, and a quick look in the Boone and Crockett Club Awards Book will show that some excellent bulls for this sub-species have been taken from this area, including the number two bull. In fact, it was because of a trip here by B & C officials that the club decided to create a special category for the central Canada barren ground caribou.

At any rate, when I booked my hunt with Jacobson last year, he assigned me a hunt date of September 15 to 22, which he said was the peak of the migration. Rendez-vous Lake is some 171 miles east northeast of Inuvik. The town has commercial air service, but our group decided to drive to Inuvik. It took us four days to make the trip. I had been over most of the route before except for........(continued)